89% companies hired foreign nationals laid off in US, finds survey

The finding of the survey indicate that many companies benefited by recruiting foreign talent that faced layoffs

Nearly 89 per cent of the companies covered under the Envoy Global survey were found to have hired one or more foreign nationals who were laid off in the US, the economic times reported. 
 

Conducted in the month of February, the 2023 immigration trends survey covered Human Resource professionals especially engaged in immigration processes in their companies. The survey claims to cover a wide variety of industries and company sizes.
 

After mass layoffs across US companies, the job market appears grim with a hiring freeze in many of these companies. This has gravely impacted those holding H1B visas as they get only around 60 days to find another sponsor.
 

Several hundred of these H1B visa holders were impacted by these layoffs. But the survey highlights that as many as 71 per cent of companies were found to have recruited more foreign nationals in the first quarter of 2023, than during the same period last year.
 

78 per cent of the companies had to freeze hiring in 2022 due to macroeconomic trends, while nearly 51 per cent laid off foreign workers, the report said.
 

The finding of the survey indicates that many companies benefited by recruiting foreign talent that faced layoffs. 
 

The Department of Labour recorded an all-time high in H-1B sponsorships, the report said.
 

The survey predicts this momentum to sustain itself. It expects slightly more H-1B registrations than recorded in 2022.
 

H-1B visa is a work permit that allows foreign nationals to work in the United States for American companies. The rules mandate that foreign nationals must work in a field that requires specialised knowledge that the employer cannot find among US citizens.
 

An H-1B visa applicant is sponsored by the American company that hires them. If the H-1B worker quits her job or is laid off, they have to find a new job and complete new paperwork within 60 days. They may also apply for a change of status from an H-1B worker. If in case they cannot do the above two, they have to return to their country or get deported.
 

Indians make up more than 60 per cent of the new H-1B cap allotments.